


Biting the Bullet

by AMysteriousMuffin



Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Daxter is now a big brother, Depression, F/M, Found Family, Gen, Human!Daxter - Freeform, Introspection, Like huge AU, Other, Swearing, Teenage Anst, destroying the canonical timeline, fast and lose uses of canon, headcannons, huge spoilers for Jak 2 and 3, mild focus on romantic relationships, no beta we die like men, no one asked for this, rebeling, respecting canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-16 04:06:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16946688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMysteriousMuffin/pseuds/AMysteriousMuffin
Summary: With Gol and Maia defeated, and Daxter back to being human, Jak and Daxter’s next great adventure was just beyond the Rift Gate.It's always the smallest things that can change the world. It's what Daxter thinks to himself eight years after he sent the younger version of his best friend back in time. Daxter holds the Amulet of Mar hoping that one day he'll find Jak and give it to him like he promised. Ten years in a city like Haven, still under the rule of Praxis and at war with the metalheads drains the optimism out of anyone.





	Biting the Bullet

Daxter had been working with the underground for a few years by now. It wasn’t his first choice, and he didn’t even really know about them until Krew had told him he needed an insider.  
  
Maybe the redhead was being a bit jaded when he said he didn’t care about the whole “rebelling” against Praxis. Maybe if he had heard about the underground when he had first gotten into Haven, he would have joined sooner, before Krew.  
  
At 25, Daxter was tired. He had learned more about Haven than he ever wanted, and something rather tragic about his best friend, who he hadn’t seen since he got to this precursor forsaken place. That is unless you count the last time he saw Jak, about seven or eight years ago, as Daxter sent him through a portal.  
  
The amulet of Mar was a familiar weight in Daxter’s pocket. He held onto it over everyone else because he was always going to miss Jak more. He was always going to hold out hope that his friend was out there, alive.  
  
Samos had seemed, or at least pretended to be upset because Jak was gone, but Daxter wasn’t so certain. He had never really liked Samos, he was always harder on Daxter as a kid over the other two. Daxter liked to think he understood Samos better than Keira if only because he had been subjected to a more negative side of the sage.  
  
Samos always seemed upset at how Daxter hadn’t been able to kill Kor, who was still leading a war against Haven. Samos had said that in the timeline he had come from, Jak had been able to stop Kor, killing the metalhead.  
  
Daxter, as far as Samos was concerned, would never be good enough, even if he was the only “hero” left around.  
  
Daxter didn’t hold any of his feelings for Samos against Jak. It’s not like his friend had never told Daxter that, “I don’t like that Samos is so mean to you.” Because Jak is a nice guy, was a nice guy.  
  
Daxter, and everyone else who had traveled from the past to the future, had assumed that because Jak was pushed off the rift rider before the thing exploded, that he was sent farther back in time. So, every person with green hair, or green and blonde hair, always caught Daxter’s attention on the street.  
  
Maybe it was part of the reason he and his girlfriend had started talking. Maybe it was her boobs. Or her pretty face. Maybe even her rockin’ thighs.  
  
Daxter wasn’t sure. But he and Tess had a way to much fun together to really care about why they had started talking.  
  
Not that he was was Tess right now. Daxter was instead, with Torn. “You got anything for me today, Tattooed Wonder?” Daxter asked, energetic as ever, even if on the inside, he wanted nothing more than to either be with Tess in bed, or out in the wastelands with Sig, soaking up the rays of the sun or taking out his seemingly untamable aggression on metalheads.  
  
Torn glared, because he wasn’t capable of anything else. Daxter returned it was his ever-so smug shit eating grin.  
  
“Yeah,” Torn’s voice sounded like the man drank rocks, “We’ve got word that the baron is doing something with dark eco in the prison, we want you to check it out.”  
  
Daxter had heard about the Dark Warrior Program. A year back or so, they had started taking volunteers from the city, none of them came out.  
  
“Don’t we, uh, already know about that?” Daxter asked. He had seen the photos Torn was looking over more than once. They weren’t pretty.  
  
Torn narrowed his eyes, which Daxter didn’t know he could do even more. “We have word that one of the experiments is going successfully.”  
  
“And you want me to check it out?”  
  
“No,” Torn answered, “Your job is to put it down.”  
  
Daxter crossed his arms, “It can’t be that bad, it’s still a person, isn’t it?”  
  
Torn shook his head, “Daxter, even if that thing helps us win the war against the metalheads, do you really expect the baron not to turn it on the people of Haven?”  
  
Daxter didn’t add anything like he usually would, he just asked how he was supposed to get in.  
  
  
J&D  
  
  
Torn’s plan involved Daxter going in undercover, apparently. He was working as an exterminator for metalhead bugs. Not that it really mattered, he ended up branching away from them pretty quickly.  
  
Daxter would have been lost if Ashelin hadn’t given him a map of the Citadel. None of the guards seemed alarmed to really see him down there, and it’s not like Daxter’s face was visible, or he stayed in one spot for too long.  
  
He walked along the cells. Looking for D-28. Along the way, Daxter was greeted to horrifying sights that the photos on Torn’s desk didn’t do justice. Or maybe they did, the people in those photos might have been a little melty, but there were more than a few piles of just people. Daxter knew dark eco could do horrible things, and that he was lucky to have gotten off easy by turning into an ottsel, and even luckier to be turned back into a human who was resistant to Dark Eco (and just about any kind actually).  
  
Daxter was in C block when he heard the screaming. It was horrible, the way it burned his ears. How young it sounded. Daxter had seen children die before. He had watched it in a sort of numb horror when metalheads had gotten into the city a few times. So maybe it was the part of him that never got over how he had watched without doing anything that made him look over to see what was going on.  
  
He was a floor above it, but he could make out a body strapped down to a table while none other than Haven’s finest shit-bags watched as scientists electrocuted the person on the table. It occurred to Daxter that the level with the chair/table was on floor D, and that he might be stuck up here until the Baron and Erol both left.  
  
If he so much as spoke around Erol, he would recognize him. Showing his face around Praxis would get him killed too. It had something to do with Daxter having red-hair and committing crimes that really put him up on the baron’s shit list. You might have never guessed it, but in Haven, red-hair was a very rare trait, one that the Praxis family was known for having. Erol was Ashelin’s second cousin according to Keira.  
  
Daxter was no-one but a troublemaker with red-hair. The baron didn’t like him. He also may or may not despise Daxter for running off with the precursor egg.  
  
For now, Daxter was stuck to watch as the tortured that poor soul. He tried, out of respect, to mostly just focus on the baron, who Daxter wondered, he might be able to just, shot, right here and right now. He might have even been fast enough to get Erol too, leaving just Ashelin on the throne. Daxter narrowed his eyes, if he had another person with him, and both of them were trained on Praxis and Erol, they could do it. It would be suicide, Ashelin would likely have to kill them both publicly if they lived long enough to be captured.  
  
Daxter had plans on living and at least finding out what happened to Jak. He owed his friend that much.  
  
“He should at least be dead by how much dark eco we’ve pumped into him,” one of the scientists said.  
  
“He had clearly taken to the treatments, D-28-J has successfully transformed under the correct conditions in the lab, and his blood has gone a long way to keeping other subjects alive.” Another added.  
  
“How long does the transformation last, Pixele?” Praxis barked.  
  
“So long, only a minute, we aren’t sure if D-28-J is somehow pushing the transformation back or if his body cannot in its current state handle the pressure, and is somehow naturally reverting, we believe with more treatments, the answer will become clear.” Presumably, Pixele answered.  
  
The baron gave off a growl, “I want to be in the know when you get that answer.”  
  
Erol and Praxis both left, leaving just the three scientists around D-28-J. By that name, and what he had overheard, Daxter was certain that this was his target. It didn’t ease his mind to know that this was a younger person. He wasn’t going to lie and say he had hoped that he might have been able to at least set that kid-free so they could try and run away.  
  
Daxter started moving, hoping the scientist would be wrapping up the experiment sooner than later so he could just get on with his job of the day.  
  
All three scientist were missing by the time Daxter made his way down a floor. And Daxter was glad. Not because it meant he didn’t have to off them too, no, because of the person on the table. Blonde-green hair.  
  
Daxter’s heart soared and sunk. It was on a roller coaster of emotions as he rushed over there. Was it Jak? Had he finally found him? After ten years of looking, was he here?  
  
Daxter skidded to a halt at the side of the table. He looked over the features of the kid on the table. That was Jak. A little older, a little skinnier, a tiny bit of scruff on his chin, but it was Jak.  
  
Daxter went for the restraints, breaking one rather loudly with the butt of his now fully exposed gun. He tore off the mask and the rest of the jumpsuit. He was getting Jak out of here alive and he wasn’t about to bring those exterminators down with him by wearing their uniform.  
  
“Jak, buddy, C'mon, wake up, it’s Daxter,” he said, shaking Jak a bit before breaking another one of the restraints. Someone was, if they hadn’t already, about to hear what Daxter was doing, and this place was going to get harry sooner than later.  
  
“Jak, c’mon, say something, just this once,” Daxter goaded, breaking the third restraint.  
  
Jak’s eyes shot open. His body jerked. Daxter’s world bent on its side when he heard, “I’m going to kill Praxis.”  
  
Daxter was taken back, so taken back that he stepped back just for a second because he wondered if he had just found some Jak-look alike.  
  
Daxter may not be keen on eco working on him as much anymore, especially the dark stuff, but he was so attuned to how it flowed it the air. So when it spiked and Jak roared, Daxter tried to hide his slight fear at the reminder of what had become of Gol and Maia. There was a certain amount of fear Daxter had to swallow back when he saw the color flash away from Jak’s skin, with only the defiant blonde bits staying  
  
Daxter looked over at Jak’s hands, thinking about how one of those scientists had brought up claws forming. Sure enough, claws that bordered on being a foot long came out of Jak’s fingernails. Daxter almost didn’t notice the small horns that came out of Jak’s head, because he was a bit lost in the void that were Jak’s eyes. Not the iris, but the whole eye. Not even Gol and Maia had gotten so far into the dark eco that their bodies had been mutated in such a way.  
  
“Jak?” Daxter breathed it out more than anything. The final restraint was broken so easily and the malice in Jak’s expression terrified Daxter. “It’s me, buddy, it’s Daxter.”  
  
The monster took a few steps forward before the eco in the air seemingly vanished. Jak had returned to normal, his eyes had their duo blue back and Daxter couldn’t help but smile.  
  
“Dax..?” Jak got out before losing his balance. Daxter rushed to catch him.  
  
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Daxter joked.  
  
Jak looked up into his friend’s eyes. Those baby-blues darted around Daxter’s face. It wasn’t quite so round anymore, Daxter would admit, he had lost most of his more cute boyish features for harder, straighter lines.  
  
“Yeah, sorry about that buddy, I got a little older on ya’.”  
  
Before Jak could really say anything, both heads turned in different directions. Daxter would hold the private that being exposed to Dark eco in more than recommended amounts and surviving, might have done something to the senses.  
  
“I guess we were both too loud, can you walk?” Daxter urged Jak to his feet. Jak had lost weight, and Daxter was stronger, so he might be able to carry his friend, but it would slow them down more than a bit.  
  
Jak nodded, and the two of them took off. Jak was slower than what Daxter remembered, and Daxter honestly might just be faster with his longer legs, either way, Daxter was having to slow himself down for the first time in a while.  
  
Shots of redeco came out from the floor, and Daxter shot a quick look to Jak, like he was expecting the now much younger of the pair to be afraid it. Jak just looked angry, and he shot past Daxter, who followed. Just like old times.


End file.
